Hurry Up and Read This

Hurry Up and Read This!
April 2025 Blog Post
by Pastor Bec

In Terminal C of the Orlando Airport there is a wall of digital videos which is quite simply just… stunning! As you watch the scenes unfold, the blue and pink and white sky of a moss-draped, large oak typical Florida landscape becomes a painting. Boats become lifelike and move along a waterway which then becomes a still life. Cows move as cowboys, and then a cowgirl, herd them along. There’s even a rocket launch, from the Cape, complete with sound, flames, gases and smoke of the exhaust.

We were astounded to discover these ever-changing panels of Florida beauty and wonder right before our very eyes at an airport, of all places! (Check out my FB pg April 3 2025 if you missed them.) We were so impressed, we took a seat across from them as we waited for our delayed flight to NY to begin to board.

After watching all the videos cycle through, I started watching the people. It was sad to see how many people totally missed the spectacular digital wall murals as they hurriedly walked by. It brought to mind the wisdom about how dangerous “hurry” is to us, from the excellent book I’ve been reading “Pray like Monks, Live like Fools” by Tyler Staton. It makes me wonder how much we’re missing on a daily basis as we buy into and practice our cultural insistence on always being busy and always in a hurry.

Can we just stop?! Can we challenge ourselves to press “Pause” on being so busy all the time and always in a hurry? What would happen if we decide to dial it back a notch? What would happen is that we might just become deeper, better, more moral, more soulful. More like Jesus.

We’ve been busy and in a hurry for a while. It actually started with Adam & Eve. They took and ate the forbidden fruit from that one forbidden tree. They sinned. Then they hid, made clothes, argued, and blamed. They dealt with their sin through what Richard Foster (“Celebration of Disciplines”) calls “muchness and manyness.” Can we relate? Do we run from self-examination and cover it up with “muchness and manyness?”

We’ve always found it easiest to ignore the truth as long as we never stop moving. In the fall of humanity, we mastered the art of hurry. This is one of many reasons the sons of Korah (one of King David’s worship teams) wrote the words of Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am Lord.” It is in the stillness that the knowing comes.

Ronald Rolheiser is a well known author and theologian. He writes this: “And so we end up as good people, but as people who are not very deep; not bad, just busy; not immoral, just distracted; not lacking in soul, just preoccupied; not disdaining depth, just never doing the things to get us there.”

Does this resonate with you? Does it ring a bell? Do you feel shallow? Busy? Distracted? Preoccupied?

We have the power, Jesus’ Resurrection power, to change this. We can choose to slow down. To even be still. Here are some helpful tips:

1. Breathe. Yes. Take time to center yourself and take good, long, deep breaths. Several times a day. Not only will this help you relax and slow down, it will also help lower blood pressure, release endorphins (natural anti-depressants), and even lose a few calories.
2. Simply remind yourself there is no rush. There is not an emergency. Become less distracted and fully present. Really listen to that person talking to you instead of thinking of your response. Take moments throughout your day to just be present without “doing.” We are human “beings” after all, not human “doings.”
3. Watch nature as a reminder of our natural pace.

Who knows, in slowing down, in fighting the tyranny of busyness and hurry sickness, you might even discover incredible beauty right before your very eyes!